Search

The epidemic and outbreaks of influenza B Victoria lineage (Bv) during 2019–2022 led to an analysis of genetic, epitopes, charged amino acids and Bv outbreaks. Based on the National Influenza Surveillance Network (NISN), the Bv 72 strains isolated during 2019–2022 were selected by spatio-temporal sampling, then were sequenced. Using the Compare Means, Correlate and Cluster, the outbreak data were analyzed, including the single nucleotide variant (SNV), amino acid (AA), epitope, evolutionary rate (ER), Shannon entropy value (SV), charged amino acid and outbreak. With the emergence of COVID-19, the non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) made Less distant transmission and only Bv outbreak. The 2021–2022 strains in the HA genes were located in the same subset, but were distinct from the 2019–2020 strains (P < 0.001). The codon G → A transition in nucleotide was in the highest ratio but the transversion of C → A and T → A made the most significant contribution to the outbreaks, while the increase in amino acid mutations characterized by polar, acidic and basic signatures played a key role in the Bv epidemic in 2021–2022. Both ER and SV were positively correlated in HA genes (R = 0.690) and NA genes (R = 0.711), respectively, however, the number of mutations in the HA genes was 1.59 times higher than that of the NA gene (2.15/1.36) from the beginning of 2020 to 2022. The positively selective sites 174, 199, 214 and 563 in HA genes and the sites 73 and 384 in NA genes were evolutionarily selected in the 2021–2022 influenza outbreaks. Overall, the prevalent factors related to 2021–2022 influenza outbreaks included epidemic timing, Tv, Ts, Tv/Ts, P137 (B → P), P148 (B → P), P199 (P → A), P212 (P → A), P214 (H → P) and P563 (B → P). The preference of amino acid mutations for charge/pH could influence the epidemic/outbreak trends of infectious diseases. Here was a good model of the evolution of infectious disease pathogens. This study, on account of further exploration of virology, genetics, bioinformatics and outbreak information, might facilitate further understanding of their deep interaction mechanisms in the spread of infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we propose a piperidine-based ionic liquid additive. The electrostatic shielding effect of the piperidine cation (PP13+) effectively inhibits the growth of lithium dendrites. Simultaneously, the redox activity of the bromine anion synergistically reduces the overpotential. This approach significantly improves the cycling performance of lithium – oxygen batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most frequent bone malignancy in humans. Previous evidence suggest that circ_0032463 is an oncogenic circular RNA (circRNA) in various cancers, including OS. However, the molecular mechanism of circ_0032463 involved in OS is still unclear. Circ_0032463, microRNA‐145‐5p (miR‐145‐5p), GDNF receptor alpha 1 (GFRA1), and Wilms tumor 1‐associated protein (WTAP) levels were determined using real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR). Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis were analyzed using 5‐ethynyl‐2′‐deoxyuridine (EdU), flow cytometry, transwell, and tube formation assays. Western blot analysis was performed to measure matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2), MMP9, GFRA1, and WTAP protein levels. Binding between miR‐145‐5p and circ_0032463 or GFRA1 was confirmed using a dual‐luciferase reporter and pull‐down assay. The biological role of circ_0032463 on OS cell growth was also analyzed using a xenograft tumor model in vivo. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation assay validated the interaction between WTAP and circ_0032463. Circ_0032463, GFRA1, and WTAP levels were increased, and miR‐145‐5p was decreased in OS tissues and cells. Circ_0032463 deficiency might hinder OS cell proliferation, migration, invasion, angiogenesis, and promote apoptosis in vitro. Mechanically, circ_0032463 worked as a miR‐145‐5p sponge to increase GFRA1 expression. Repression of circ_0032463 knockdown on tumor cell growth was proved in vivo. Besides, N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) modification facilitates the biogenesis of circ_0032463. Taken together, m6A‐mediated biogenesis of circ_0032463 facilitates OS cell malignant biological behavior partly via regulating the miR‐145‐5p/GFRA1 axis, suggesting a promising molecular marker for OS treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the adaptive strategies and compensatory growth mechanisms of juvenile Epinephelus coioides under starvation stress. The fish with an initial body weight of 8.88 ± 0.06 g were starved for 0 day (F0, control), 3 days (F3), 6 days (F6), 9 days (F9), 12 days (F12), and 15 days (F15), followed by feeding periods of 30 days, 27 days, 24 days, 21 days, 18 days, and 15 days, respectively. The results are shown as follows: (1) E. coioides could achieve complete or partial compensatory growth by improving both feeding rate and feed conversion efficiency. (2) The viscerosomatic index and the hepatosomatic index of the test fish decreased linearly with the duration of starvation (P < 0.05), while the condition factor did not significantly decrease (P > 0.05). At the end of feeding, all the physical body indicators of the test fish recovered or exceeded the control levels. (3) The lipid and glycogen contents of the test fish decreased continuously throughout the entire starvation process, with noticeable protein consumption occurring in the later stages of starvation (P < 0.05). At the end of the feeding period, apart from a significant reduction in crude lipid contents in the F12 and F15 groups compared to the control group (P < 0.05), the biochemical composition of the test fish was restored or even surpassed that of the control group. (4) The activity of digestive enzymes could be stimulated by starvation, enabling the efficient utilization of energy storage substances. In conclusion, it is advisable to limit the period of starvation for juvenile E. coioides to 12 days, which means that the ratio of starvation period to feeding period should not exceed two‐thirds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several exogenous probiotics are applicable in fish culture; however, challenges in isolation and verification have hindered the full utilization of numerous host probiotics. Therefore, this study aimed to apply the host probiotic Exiguobacterium acetylicum G1-33 to hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus ♀ × Epinephelus lanceolatus ♂) cultures and explore its mechanism of action. In total, 360 hybrid grouper were divided into four groups, which were fed the following for 60 days: three received commercial feed with varying concentrations of E. acetylicum G1-33 (106, 108, and 1010 CFU/g), while a control group received commercial feed. The results showed that supplementation with 106 and 108 CFU/g of E. acetylicum G1-33 enhanced gut morphology, upregulated growth-related genes (ghr1, igf-2, s6k1, tor), and promoted growth, with supplementation with 108 CFU/g resulting in the most notable enhancement. However, supplementation with 1010 CFU/g inhibited growth, possibly because of changes in intestinal morphology. Additionally, supplementation with E. acetylicum G1-33 upregulated the expression of immune-related genes (c3, myd88, Cu/Zn-sod, tlr3, and tnf2) in the liver and head kidney but led to an increase in malondialdehyde content, as well as a decrease in alkaline phosphatase and acid phosphatase activities, in the liver and serum, indicating increased oxidative stress. Moreover, supplementation with 106 and 108 CFU/g E. acetylicum G1-33 enhanced the widespread expression of immune-related genes in the head kidney and liver, respectively, and improved resistance to Vibrio harveyi, whereas supplementation with 1010 CFU/g weakened this resistance. In conclusion, E. acetylicum G1-33, particularly at 108 CFU/g, emerged as an effective probiotic, optimizing growth performance and immunity in hybrid grouper. This research is pioneering in its application of E. acetylicum in mariculture, potentially broadening the range of probiotic strategies in aquaculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of black phosphorene (BP) and its preparation and modification for developing and applying devices have become a hot topic in the interdisciplinary field. We propose ultrasound-electrochemistry co-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation as an eco-friendly one-step method to prepare gold–silver bimetallic nanoparticles (Au−AgNPs)-decorated BP nanozyme for smartphone-based portable sensing of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in different water sources. The structure, morphology, composition, and properties of Au−AgNPs−BP nanozyme are characterized by multiple instrumental analyses. Bimetallic salts are induced to efficiently occupy oxidative sites of BP to form highly stable Au−AgNPs−BP nanozyme and guarantee the integrity of the lamellar BP. The electrochemistry shortens the exfoliation time of the BP nanosheet and contributes to the loading efficiency of bimetallic nanoparticles on the BP nanosheet. Au−AgNPs−BP-modified screen-printed carbon electrode coupled with palm-sized smartphone-controlled wireless electrochemical analyzer as a portable wireless intelligent sensing platform was applied to the determination of 4-NP in a linear range of 0.6−10 μM with a limit of detection of 63 nM. It enables on-site determination of 4-NP content in lake water, river water, and irrigation ditch water. This work will provide a reference for an eco-friendly one-step preparation of bimetallic nanoparticle-decorated graphene-like materials as nanozymes and their smartphone-based portable sensing application outdoors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of wind power has brought about increasing challenges in decommissioning, among which DWTBs (decommissioned wind turbine blades) are the most difficult component to deal with. To enable the cost-effective, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly large-scale utilization of DWTBs, an experimental study on thermogravimetric and pyrolysis characteristics of DWTBs was carried out. A new process involving recycling glass fiber with pyrolysis gas re-combustion and flue gas recirculation as the pyrolysis medium was innovatively proposed, and the simulation calculation was carried out. Thermogravimetric experiments indicated that glass fiber reinforced composite (GFRC) was the main heat-generating part in the heat utilization process of blades, and the blade material could basically complete pyrolysis at 600 °C. As the heating rate increased, the formation temperature, peak concentration, and proportion of combustible gas in the pyrolysis gas also increased. The highest peak concentration of CO gas was observed, with CO2 and C3H6 reaching their peaks at 700 °C. The solid product obtained from pyrolysis at 600 °C could be oxidized at 550 °C for 40 min to obtain clean glass fiber. And the pyrolysis temperature increased with the increase in the proportion of recirculation flue gas. When the proportion of recirculation flue gas was 66%, the pyrolysis temperature could reach 600 °C, meeting the necessary pyrolysis temperature for wind turbine blade materials. The above research provided fundamental data support for further exploration on high-value-added recycling of DWTBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Long non-coding RNAs are important regulators in cancer biology and function either as tumor suppressors or as oncogenes. Their dysregulation has been closely associated with tumorigenesis. LINC00265 is upregulated in lung adenocarcinoma and is a prognostic biomarker of this cancer. However, the mechanism underlying its function in cancer progression remains poorly understood. Methods: Here, the regulatory role of LINC00265 in lung adenocarcinoma was examined using lung cancer cell lines, clinical samples, and xenografts. Results: We found that high levels of LINC00265 expression were associated with shorter overall survival rate of patients, whereas knockdown of LINC00265 inhibited proliferation of cancer cell lines and tumor growth in xenografts. Western blot and flow cytometry analyses indicated that silencing of LINC00265 induced autophagy and apoptosis. Moreover, we showed that LINC00265 interacted with and stabilized the transcriptional co-repressor Switch-independent 3a (SIN3A), which is a scaffold protein functioning either as a tumor repressor or as an oncogene in a context-dependent manner. Silencing of SIN3A also reduced proliferation of lung cancer cells, which was correlated with the induction of autophagy. These observations raise the possibility that LINC00265 functions to promote the oncogenic activity of SIN3A in lung adenocarcinoma. Conclusions: Our findings thus identify SIN3A as a LINC00265-associated protein and should help to understand the mechanism underlying LINC00265-mediated oncogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the bumpless transfer control of linear switched positive systems based on state and disturbance observers. First, state and disturbance observers are designed for linear switched positive systems to estimate the state and the disturbance. By combining the designed state observer, the disturbance observer, and the output, a new controller is constructed for the systems. All gain matrices are described in the form of linear programming. By using co-positive Lyapunov functions, the positivity and stability of the closed-loop system can be ensured. In order to achieve the bumpless transfer property, some additional sufficient conditions are imposed on the control conditions. The novelties of this paper lie in that (i) a novel framework is presented for positive disturbance observer, (ii) double observers are constructed for linear switched positive systems, and (iii) a bumpless transfer controller is proposed in terms of linear programming. Finally, two examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tunnels are a vital component of urban infrastructure that must be robust against seismic hazards. Given the randomness of earthquake occurrence, the seismic response of tunnel structures mut be studied by stochastic analysis methods. To this end, this study proposes a probability density evolution method (PDEM)-based framework to investigate the seismic performance of a circular tunnel under stochastic earthquake excitation. First, a suite of nonstationary earthquake motions compatible with the seismic design code was derived using a stochastic earthquake model. Then, a series of nonlinear dynamic numerical simulations were conducted for a typical circular tunnel that considers the soil-structure interaction. Finally, using the tunnel inclination angle as the performance index, the probability density function of the structural response of the tunnel was solved using the PDEM to obtain the corresponding exceedance probabilities of the tunnel under various damage states. The results show that the PDEM-based framework can be applied to evaluate the seismic performance of circular tunnels and could serve as a reference on the seismic fragility of tunnels and underground structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent type of regulated cell death, and has been implicated in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Evidence has proved the key role of glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) in ferroptosis, but its role in LUAD remains unclear. Herein, we explored the implications of GCLC and relevant genes in LUAD prognosis and immunity as well as underlying molecular mechanisms. Methods: This work gathered mRNA, miRNA, DNA methylation, somatic mutation and copy-number variation data from TCGA-LUAD. WGCNA was utilized for selecting GCLC-relevant genes, and a GCLC-relevant prognostic signature was built by uni- and multivariate-cox regression analyses. Immune compositions were estimated via CIBERSORT, and two immunotherapy cohorts of solid tumors were analyzed. Multi-omics regulatory mechanisms were finally assessed. Results: Our results showed that GCLC was overexpressed in LUAD, and potentially resulted in undesirable survival. A prognostic model was generated, which owned accurate and independent performance in prognostication. GCLC, and relevant genes were notably connected with immune compositions and immune checkpoints. High GCLC expression was linked with better responses to anti-PD-L1 and anti-CTLA-4 treatment. Their possible DNA methylation sites were inferred, e.g., hypomethylation in cg19740353 might contribute to GCLC up-regulation. Frequent genetic mutations also affected their expression. Upstream transcription factors (E2F1/3/4, etc.), post-transcriptional regulation of miRNAs (hsa-mir-30c-1, etc.), lncRNAs (C8orf34-AS1, etc.), and IGF2BP1-mediated m6A modification were identified. It was also found NOP58-mediated SUMOylation post-translational modification. Conclusions: Together, we show that GCLC and relevant genes exert crucial roles in LUAD prognosis and immunity, and their expression can be controlled by complex multi-omics mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual selection is a driving force behind the evolution of insect genitalia morphology. Understanding the functional morphologies of mating-related structures can help explain the evolution of diverse genital morphologies. However, this research is limited to many insect groups, such as the Cerambycidae. We observed the mating process and morphology of mating-related structures of the longhorn beetle Dorysthenes granulosus (Thomson) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Prioninae). Our observations revealed mating behavior characteristics and the functional morphology of genitalia and leg tarsi. The mating process of D. granulosus can be divided into three stages: mounting, insemination, and guarding. The male usually spends 30 min from mounting to control the female, then extends its endophallus and typically inserts it twice into the female reproductive tract. Each insertion lasts for about 40 s. After that, the male begins a long-time insemination, which lasts for two to three minutes. Then, the male withdraws the endophallus and the female reproductive tract secretes a sperm mass. After insemination, some males continue to mount the female for a postcopulatory guarding period, which can last from one to five hours. During copulation, barbs on the surface of the everted male endophallus directly contact the female reproductive tract. The male fore and mid leg tarsi firmly grasp the female elytra, thorax, and abdomen. We discuss the functional morphologies of mating-related structures and the possible reason for male multiple insertions in the Cerambycidae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Siganus oramin, as a commercial species, is a well-received table fish in southeastern China. However, valuable reproduction-related data are still scarce. In the present study, gonad transcriptome analysis was first performed using Illumina Novaseq technology. Comparative transcriptome analysis of adult male and female gonads identified a large number of differentially expressed genes. Among them, many reproduction-related genes that play important roles in gonad differentiation and development were found. These data may contribute greatly to the regulation of rabbitfish reproduction. The rabbitfish, Siganus oramin, is a commercially important table fish in southeastern China. However, there have been few studies on its gonad development and reproduction regulation. Comparative transcriptome analysis was first performed on adult male and female gonads of S. oramin. In total, 47,070 unigenes were successfully assembled and 22,737 unigenes were successfully annotated. Through comparative transcriptome analysis of male and female gonads, a total of 6722 differentially expressed genes were successfully identified, with 3528 upregulated genes and 3154 downregulated genes in the testes. In addition, 39 differentially expressed reproduction-related genes were identified. Finally, quantitative real-time PCR was used to validate the expression levels of several differentially expressed genes. These results provide important data for further studying the function of reproduction-related genes and the molecular mechanism regulating gonad development and reproduction in S. oramin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Binders are an important part of refractory castables, which not only provide early working performance and mechanical strength for refractory castables, but also affect their high-temperature performance. Hence, the research progress and problems of SiO2, Al2O3 and MgO micropowder binders for refractory castables in recent years were summarized in order to promote the future research and application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The timing of radiotherapy (RT) delivery has been reported to affect both cancer survival and treatment toxicity. However, the association among the timing of RT delivery, survival, and toxicity in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LA-NPC) has not been investigated. We retrospectively reviewed patients diagnosed with LA-NPC who received definitive RT at multiple institutions. The median RT delivery daytime was categorized as morning (DAY) and night (NIGHT). Seasonal variations were classified into the darker half of the year (WINTER) and brighter half (SUMMER) according to the sunshine duration. Cohorts were balanced according to baseline characteristics using propensity score matching (PSM). Survival and toxicity outcomes were evaluated using Cox regression models. A total of 355 patients were included, with 194/161 in DAY/NIGHT and 187/168 in WINTER/SUMMER groups. RT delivered during the daytime prolonged the 5-year overall survival (OS) (90.6% vs. 80.0%, p = 0.009). However, the significance of the trend was lost after PSM (p = 0.068). After PSM analysis, the DAY cohort derived a greater benefit in 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) (85.6% vs. 73.4%, p = 0.021) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) (89.2% vs. 80.8%, p = 0.051) in comparison with the NIGHT subgroup. Moreover, multivariate analysis showed that daytime RT was an independent prognostic factor for OS, PFS, and DMFS. Furthermore, daytime RT delivery was associated with an increase in the incidence of leukopenia and radiation dermatitis. RT delivery in SUMMER influenced only the OS significantly (before PSM: p = 0.051; after PSM: p = 0.034). There was no association between toxicity and the timing of RT delivery by season. In LA-NPC, the daytime of radical RT served as an independent prognostic factor. Furthermore, RT administered in the morning resulted in more severe toxic side effects than that at night, which needs to be confirmed in a future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Seaweeds and probiotics are commonly utilized as additives in the diet of aquatic animals. However, limited information exists regarding the effects of Gracilaria lichenoides and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, either alone or in combination, on Penaeus monodon. In our study, we examined the impact of dietary supplementation with G. lichenoides and B. amyloliquefaciens, both individually and in combination, on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal function of P. monodon. Our findings indicate a beneficial influence of dietary G. lichenoides and B. amyloliquefaciens on P. monodon. These findings offer a theoretical foundation for the judicious utilization of G. lichenoides and B. amyloliquefaciens in the cultivation of black tiger shrimp, as well as for future investigations into their metabolic mechanisms. This research sought to assess the effects of dietary supplements with Gracilaria lichenoides and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, either individually or combined, on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal function of Penaeus monodon. A total of 840 shrimps were randomly assigned to 28 tanks with an average initial weight of (1.04 ± 0.03) g (30 shrimp per tank) with 7 different treatment groups and 4 replicates per treatment. The control treatment (C) consisted of a basal diet; in contrast, the experimental groups were complement with varying levels of G. lichenoides (3% or 8%), either alone (S3 and S8) or in combination with B.amyloliquefaciens at different concentrations (3% G. lichenoides and 109 CFU/g—S3B9; 8% G. lichenoides and 1011 CFU/g B. amyloliquefaciens—S8B11; 109 CFU/g B. amyloliquefaciens—S9; 1011 CFU/g B. amyloliquefaciens—B11). The results indicated that the maximum values of final body weight (FBW) (10.49 ± 0.90) g, weight gain rate (WGR) (908.94 ± 33.58) g, and specific growth rate (SGR) (4.20 ± 0.06) g were perceived in the 3% G. lichenoide diet treatment, and compared with the control group, the difference was significant (p < 0.05). The whole-body lipid content of shrimp in the B9 group was significantly higher than that in the B11 group (p < 0.05), but no significant difference was observed when compared with shrimp fed other diets (p > 0.05). The ash content of shrimp in the B9 group was found to be significantly higher than that in the S3B9 group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the lipase activity in the stomach and intestines of the experimental groups exhibited a statistically significantly increase compared to the control (p < 0.05). In comparison to the control group, the hepatopancreas of the S3 group exhibited a significant increase in the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and antioxidant genes [SOD, catalase (CAT), GSH-Px, thioredoxin (Trx), Hippo, and NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)] expression levels (p < 0.05). Additionally, the activities of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), SOD, peroxidase (POD), and antioxidant genes (CAT, GSH-Px, Trx, and Hippo) in the S3B9 treatment of hepatopancreas showed significant improvement (p < 0.05). The inclusion of dietary G. lichenoides and B. amyloliquefaciens resulted in enhanced relative expression of intestinal lipid metabolism genes (fatty acid synthetase (FAS), lipophorin receptor (LR), fatty acid transport protein 1 (FATP1)) and suppressed the expression of the long-chain fatty acid-CoA ligase 4 (LCL4) gene. Analysis of microbiota sequencing indicated improvements in composition and structure, with notable increases in Firmicutes at the phylum level and Vibrio at the genus level in the S3 group, as well as an increase in Tenericutes at the genus level in the S8B11 group. Overall, the inclusion of dietary G. lichenoides and B. amyloliquefaciens positively impacted the growth, antioxidant capacity, and microbial composition of shrimp, with particular enhancement observed in shrimp fed a supplementary 3% G. lichenoides diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of lithium-ion batteries and sodium-ion batteries is limited by the deficiency of suitable anode materials with desired electrochemical properties. In this work, the models of 2D single-layer SiP are constructed to explore its potential as an anode material for LIBs and SIBs using density functional theory (DFT). The diffusion of Li in bulk SiP is anisotropic. There is a low diffusion energy barrier of 0.28 eV along the X-axis. The low surface exfoliation energy suggests that there is a high probability of preparing 2D single-layer SiP experimentally. Its structure stability is verified by ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations at 300 K and 400 K. The intercalation and diffusion behaviors of Li/Na on 2D single-layer SiP indicate that Li/Na tends to diffuse along the X-axis direction of 2D single-layer SiP. The diffusion energy barrier of Li/Na on 2D single-layer SiP is lower compared to that of bulk SiP. The conductivity of 2D single-layer SiP is improved after lithiation due to the upshift of Fermi levels. 2D single-layer SiP has a lower average open circuit voltage (1.50 V for LIBs and 1.08 V for SIBs) and a high theoretical capacity (520 mA h g−1). Hence, 2D single-layer SiP can be an ideal anode material for LIBs and SIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of brown fishmeal in replacement of white fishmeal in the diet of Chinese soft-shelled turtles and to find the optimal amount of brown fishmeal to add. Five experimental groups were set up and fed to animals, and they were composed by different proportions of white and brown fishmeal: G1 (30% white and 25% brown fishmeal), G2 (25% white and 30% brown fishmeal), G3 (20% white and 35% brown fishmeal), G4 (15% white and 40% brown fishmeal), G5 (10% white and 45% brown fishmeal). G1 is regarded as the control group. Turtles were randomly divided into five experimental groups with four replicates each. The experiment lasted 72 days. The results showed that the WGR, SGR, FCR, and HSI of the G3 group were not significantly different from those of the control group (P > 0.05). In addition, brown fishmeal can increase the crude protein content in the muscles of them. Among the serum biochemical indices, there was no significant difference between the G3 group and the G1 group, except for the level of TG (P > 0.05). Meanwhile, the activities of AST, ALT, and CAT in the liver of the G3 group did not differ significantly from those of the G1 group (P > 0.05). However, the activities of ACP, AKP, and T-AOC were significantly decreased in the G3 group (P < 0.05). In addition, the alteration of fishmeal did not affect the digestive enzyme activities in the stomach, liver, and intestine, and there is no significant difference (P > 0.05). Importantly, with increasing brown fishmeal addition, the expression of Fas, Pparγ, Scd, and Stat3 showed a significant increase, while the expression of Bmp4 decreased significantly (P < 0.05). In this study, the addition of 20% white fishmeal and 35% brown fishmeal to the diet of Chinese soft-shelled turtles did not adversely affect growth performance. Therefore, 20% white fishmeal and 35% brown fishmeal are the most practical feed formulations for Chinese soft-shelled turtles in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurological diseases can lead to the denervation of brain regions caused by demyelination, traumatic injury or cell death. The molecular and structural mechanisms underlying lesion-induced reorganization of denervated brain regions, however, are a matter of ongoing investigation. In order to address this issue, we performed an entorhinal cortex lesion (ECL) in mouse organotypic entorhino-hippocampal tissue cultures of both sexes and studied denervation-induced plasticity of mossy fiber synapses, which connect dentate granule cells (dGCs) with CA3 pyramidal cells (CA3-PCs) and play important roles in learning and memory formation. Partial denervation caused a strengthening of excitatory neurotransmission in dGCs, CA3-PCs and their direct synaptic connections, as revealed by paired recordings (dGC-to-CA3-PC). These functional changes were accompanied by ultrastructural reorganization of mossy fiber synapses, which regularly contain the plasticity-regulating protein synaptopodin and the spine apparatus organelle. We demonstrate that the spine apparatus organelle and synaptopodin are related to ribosomes in close proximity to synaptic sites and reveal a synaptopodin-related transcriptome. Notably, synaptopodin-deficient tissue preparations that lack the spine apparatus organelle failed to express lesion-induced synaptic adjustments. Hence, synaptopodin and the spine apparatus organelle play a crucial role in regulating lesion-induced synaptic plasticity at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of ecological security pattern (ESP) is of great scientific significance for solving the problem of habitat fragmentation in urban environment. However, previous studies mainly focused on the ESP in land area, leaving the sea area to be ignored. This study took the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and its offshore area as an example and integrated the land-sea coordination into the construction of ESP based on the minimum resistance model, gravity model, and graph theory centrality. The results showed that there are 171 and 56 ecological sources for land area and offshore area, accounting for 31.46% and 21.51% of total area, respectively. Twenty-four important ecological corridors with a total length of 2738.05 km were identified in GBA, and the width is proposed to be less than 100 m. Moreover, the α, β, and γ index of the ecological network in the study area is 0.19, 1.33, and 0.5, respectively, indicating that the ecological network structure is complex and the connectivity between ecological nodes is good. The ecological restoration area includes 286.6 km2 of ecological pinch points and 140.44 km2 of ecological barrier. The overall ESP of the study area is "one ring, two belts, and four zones." The main body of the area with a superior ecological environment is distributed in a ring-like pattern near the outer edge of the study area, and two belts (important ecological corridor and ecological corridor) are distributed in a network. According to the ecological characteristics, the study area was divided into four zones: ecological preservation areas, ecological restoration areas, limited construction areas, and optimized construction areas. The ESP established herein institute provides a reference for the revision of ecological space control and optimization measures in the GBA. It also provides effective and systematic means to solve ecological problems in the current territorial spatial planning and territorial ecological restoration of coastal urban agglomeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long non-coding RNAs play critical roles in the development of lung cancer by functioning as tumor suppressors or oncogenes. Changes in the expression of LINC01279 have been associated with cell differentiation and human diseases. However, the mechanism underlying LINC01279 activity in tumorigenesis is not clear. Here, we analyzed the function of LINC01279 in lung adenocarcinoma using clinical samples, xenografts, and non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines. We found that LINC01279 is highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma and may be considered as a predictive factor for this cancer. Knockdown of LINC01279 prevents tumor growth in xenografts and in cancer cell lines by activating autophagy and apoptosis. Molecularly, we revealed that LINC01279 regulates the expression of focal adhesion kinase and extracellular-regulated kinase signaling. In addition, it complexes with and stabilizes the transcriptional co-repressor SIN3A protein. Suppression of focal adhesion kinase and SIN3A also induces apoptosis and prevents tumor progression, suggesting that they may at least in part mediate the oncogenic activity of LINC01279. These results identify LINC01279 as a possible oncogene that plays an important role in the development of lung cancer. Our findings provide insights into the mechanism underlying LINC01279-mediated oncogenesis of lung adenocarcinoma. They may help to discover potential therapeutic targets for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effects of stilbene glycoside (TSG) on okadaic acid-induced apoptosis in human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) via the PI3K/AKT pathway. Methods: The optimal concentration of OA was screened by CCK-8 assay, and SH-SY5Y cells were divided into control group, model group, TSG group, LY294002 group and LY294002+TSG group. The proliferation and apoptosis in each group were detected by CCK-8 and TUNEL assays; Western blotting method and real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the expression of PI3K, P-PI3K (Y607), AKT, P-AKT (Ser473), Bcl-2 and Bax proteins. The relative protein expression was represented by P-PI3K (Y607)/PI3K, P-AKT (Ser473)/AKT and Bcl-2/Bax gray ratio. Results: CCK-8 screened the optimal concentration of OA as 40 nmol/L. Compared with the control group, the model group increased relative cell viability, decreased apoptosis rate, the pathway and apoptotic proteins expression levels of P-PI3K (Y607)/PI3K, P-AKT (Ser473)/AKT and Bcl-2/Bax were decreased, and the mRNA expression levels of PI3K, AKT and Bcl-2 were decreased. Bax mRNA expression level increased (P< 0.05); Compared with model group, TSG group increased relative cell viability, decreased apoptosis rate, increased protein expression levels of P-PI3K (Y607)/PI3K, P-AKT (Ser473)/AKT, Bcl-2/Bax, and increased mRNA expression levels of PI3K, AKT, and Bcl-2. Bax mRNA expression decreased (P<0.05), LY294002 group decreased relative cell viability, increased apoptosis rate, P-PI3K (Y607)/PI3K protein expression levels were significantly decreased (P<0.05), P-AKT (Ser473)/AKT and Bcl-2/Bax protein expression levels were significantly decreased, but there was no statistical significance, PI3K, AKT and Bcl-2 mRNA expression levels were decreased, and Bax mRNA expression levels were increased (all P< 0.05); Compared with LY294002 group, LY294002+TSG group increased relative cell viability, decreased apoptosis rate, and the protein expression levels of P-PI3K (Y607)/PI3K, P-AKT (Ser473)/AKT and Bcl-2/Bax were increased. The mRNA expression levels of PI3K, AKT, Bcl-2 were increased, Bax was decreased (all P< 0.05). Conclusion: Stilbene glycoside may alleviate okadaic acid-induced apoptosis in SHSY5Y cells by interfering with the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, which in turn regulates the expression of apoptotic factors such as Bcl-2 and Bax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early diagnosis and pharmacological treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases has been a long-standing challenge for clinical research due to the presence of the blood–brain barrier. Specific proteins and RNAs in brain-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) usually reflect the corresponding state of brain disease, and therefore, EVs can be used as diagnostic biomarkers for CNS diseases. In addition, EVs can be engineered and fused to target cells for delivery of cargo, demonstrating the great potential of EVs as a nanocarrier platform. We review the progress of EVs as markers and drug carriers in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases. The main areas include visual imaging, biomarker diagnosis and drug loading therapy for different types of CNS diseases. It is hoped that increased knowledge of EVs will facilitate their clinical translation in CNS diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Whether body mass index (BMI) is a risk factor for poor bowel preparation is controversial, and the optimal bowel preparation regimen for people with a high BMI is unclear. Methods: We prospectively included 710 individuals with high BMIs (≥ 24 kg/m2) who were scheduled to undergo colonoscopy from January to November 2021 at 7 hospitals. Participants were randomly allocated into 3 L split-dose polyethylene glycol (PEG) group (n=353) and 2 L PEG group (n=357). The primary outcome was the rate of adequate bowel preparation, and the secondary outcomes included Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS) score, polyp detection rate, cecal intubation rate, and adverse reactions during bowel preparation. Furthermore, we did exploratory subgroup analyses for adequate bowel preparation. Results: After enrollment, 15 individuals didn't undergo colonoscopy, finally 345 participants took 3 L split-dose PEG regimen, and 350 participants took 2 L PEG regimen for colonoscopic bowel preparation. 3 L split-dose PEG regimen was superior to 2 L PEG regimen in the rate of adequate bowel preparation (81.2% vs. 74.9%, P = 0.045), BBPS score (6.71±1.15 vs. 6.37±1.31, P < 0.001), and the rate of polyp detection (62.0% vs. 52.9%, P = 0.015). The cecal intubation rate was similar in both groups (99.7%). Regarding adverse reactions, individuals were more likely to feel nausea in the 3 L PEG group (30.9% vs. 19.3%; P = 0.001); however, the degree was mild. In the subgroup analysis for adequate bowel preparation, 3 L split-dose PEG regimen performed better than 2 L PEG regimen in the overweight (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m2) (P = 0.006) and individuals with constipation (P = 0.044), while no significant differences were observed in relatively normal (BMI 24-24.9 kg/m2) (P = 0.593) and obese individuals (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) (P = 0.715). Conclusions: 3 L split-dose PEG regimen is superior to 2 L PEG regimen for colonoscopic Bowel Preparation in relatively high-BMI individuals, especially overweight individuals (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m2). Trial Registration: This trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry (ChiCTR2000039068). The date of first registration, 15/10/2020, http://www.chictr.org.cn [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes an all-graphene metasurface supporting dual band symmetric bound state in the continuum (BIC) in the terahertz (THz) range for the first time. The structure consists of a unit cell containing a double-gap split ring resonator periodically on a dielectric substrate. By introducing symmetry breaking, two plasmonic quasi-BIC (Q-BIC) transmission dips are observed with finite Q-factors and high modulation depth. Simulation and analysis results simultaneously exhibit that the Q-factors of Q-BICs follow an inverse square dependency with the asymmetry degree. Via changing the graphene's chemical potential, the Q-BICs' operating frequency range can be actively expanded. The dual Q-BICs are immune to the variation of incident angle and have a significant slow light effect with time delay up to 23.8 ps. In addition, the sensing performance in THz region is investigated. A maximum sensitivity of 267.5 GHz/RIU is obtained with a FOM of 24.08 RIU−1. Our work shows an alternative way to design the class of tunable Q-BIC metasurface, which will provide a valuable reference for future dynamic sensor and other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry, the number of power battery decommissioning is increasing year by year. The recycling of power batteries is of great significance for protecting the ecological environment, improving the efficiency of resource utilization, and ensuring the sustainable and healthy development of the new energy automobile industry. In this study, the chemical compositions of power batteries were introduced, the technical path and development status of the echelon utilization of decommissioned power batteries were discussed, and the specific steps and challenges of regenerative utilization of decommissioned power batteries were described in detail from two aspects of pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. Combined with the relevant research results, the main methods of the direct regeneration of positive electrode materials were analyzed. Finally, the main development direction and related suggestions for the resource utilization of decommissioned power batteries were put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy have significantly improved clinical outcomes of patients with relapsed or refractory hematologic malignancies. However, progress is still hindered as clinical benefit is only available for a fraction of patients. A lack of understanding of CAR-T cell behaviors in vivo at the single-cell level impedes their more extensive application in clinical practice. Mounting evidence suggests that single-cell sequencing techniques can help perfect the receptor design, guide gene-based T cell modification, and optimize the CAR-T manufacturing conditions, and all of them are essential for long-term immunosurveillance and more favorable clinical outcomes. The information generated by employing these methods also potentially informs our understanding of the numerous complex factors that dictate therapeutic efficacy and toxicities. In this review, we discuss the reasons why CAR-T immunotherapy fails in clinical practice and what this field has learned since the milestone of single-cell sequencing technologies. We further outline recent advances in the application of single-cell analyses in CAR-T immunotherapy. Specifically, we provide an overview of single-cell studies focusing on target antigens, CAR-transgene integration, and preclinical research and clinical applications, and then discuss how it will affect the future of CAR-T cell therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the mechanism of action of tetrahydroxy stilbene glycosides(TSG) in ameliorating neuronal damage in Alzheimer's disease rats by regulating MKK7 and JNK kinases. Methods: A total of 24-month-old 42 SD rats were randomly selected for the experiment in 7 groups: normal group, sham-operated group, model group, positive drug group, low, medium and high dose TSG group at 0.033 g/kg, 0.1 g/kg, 0.3 g/kg. The Model Group and the TSG groups were established by stereotaxic Aß25-35 solution. After 28 days, the model rats were selected by passive avoidance test. After screening, each dosage group of TSG and positive drug group was given intragastrically according to the corresponding dosage, and the experiment was carried out after 28 days. The pathological changes of hippocampal CA1 region were observed by tissue staining, and the amount of MKK7 and JNK proteins and the expression content of MKK7 and JNK mRNA by histochemical method of protein, and qRTPCR assay. Results: (1) He staining observation: Compared with the normal group and the sham-operated group, the number of nerve cells in the model group decreased and arranged irregularly, the cell membrane shrank, and the nucleus deformed and dissolved. The number of neurons in the positive drug group and TSG Group also increased significantly, the order is also relatively well. (2) From the results of the Tunel staining experiments:the positive apoptotic cells in the model group were higher than control group and sham-operated group, positive drug group and TSG drugs group was significantly smaller than that in the model group (P < 0.05). (3) Compared with the control group and the Virtual Operation Group, the MKK7 and JNK protein concentrations in the brain of the model group were increased(P<0.05) by data analysis of immunohistochemistry: Compared with the model group, the protein expression of positive drug and TSG each dose group were reduced (P<0.05). (4)The results of QRTPCR data showed that the levels of MKK7 and JNK mRNA in the brain tissue of the model group were increased compared with the normal group and sham-operated groups(P<0.05). Conclusion: Stilbene glycoside has a certain effect on neuronal injury and repair which may be related to the changes of mRNA transcription and protein expression of MKK7 and JNK kinases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-oxide ceramic aerogel draws increasing attention in area of thermal insulation because of its low density, high temperature resistance and good chemical/thermal stability. Here, a BCN-TiN composite aerogel was prepared by an in-situ carbothermal reduction/nitridation method, using melamine (C3N6H6), boric acid (H3BO3), chitosan ((C6H11NO4)n) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) as raw materials. The aerogel prepared at 1473 K showed a porosity high up to 97.6 pct with a density of 0.05 g/cm3. When testing at a temperature of 673 K, the thermal conductivity value of as-obtained composite aerogel was as low as 0.135 W/(m K). Moreover, the lightweight BCN-TiN aerogel had the high-temperature stability (at least 1473 K) and good compression strength, which ensures it a potential high-temperature insulation material in inert atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Robotics has been used safely and successfully in a variety of adult surgeries and is gradually gaining ground in pediatrics. While the benefits of robotic-assisted surgery in disease treatment are well recognized, its high cost has led to questions. To investigate whether robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RALS) is cost-effective compared to conventional laparoscopic surgery (LS) in pediatric surgery, we attempted to construct a model to perform an analysis of these two surgical approaches using Python statistical analysis software. Methods: We selected four common complex pediatric surgical conditions (choledochal cyst, Hirschsprung's disease, vesicoureteral reflux, and congenital hydronephrosis) from three systems (pediatric hepatobiliary, gastroenterology, and urology). Models were constructed using Python statistical software to compare hospital costs and surgical outcomes for RALS and LS. In addition, we performed a preferred strategy analysis for both surgical modalities while assessing model uncertainty using one-way sensitivity analysis. Results: For the four diseases, the operative time decreased sequentially. The total inpatient costs of RALS were 10,816.72, 9145.44, 8414.29, 7973.58 dollars, respectively, yielding 1.789, 1.712, 1.749, 1.792 quality adjustment life years (QALYs) over two years post-operatively. The incremental cost of RALS relative to LS for each disease was 3523.44, 3200.20, 3049.79, 3043.66 dollars, respectively, with an incremental utility of 0.060, 0.054, 0.051, 0.050 QALYs. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for RALS for each of the four diseases were 58,724.01, 59,262.95, 59,799.79, 60,873.20 dollars/QALY, all less than 100,000 dollars/QALY. The cost of robot consumables was the main incremental cost of RALS and had the most significant impact on the model. Conclusion: For the four pediatric surgical conditions described above, RALS has higher inpatient costs than LS, but it has better postoperative outcomes, and all four RALS treatments are cost-effective. Children with complex diseases and long operative times appear to benefit more from RALS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present study aimed to investigate the differences in chronobiology and prevention between patients with acute type-A aortic dissection (ATAAD) complicated with sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) and without sleep apnea syndrome (non-SAS). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical information of ATAAD patients using hospital medical records and regional meteorological and chronological information between January 2013 and December 2019. Results: An early mortality rate of 16.9% (196 out of 1160 cases) was observed, comprising 95 cases of aortic rupture before surgery and 101 surgery-related deaths. Eighty-one of the 964 survivors were screened for SAS using complete morphological characteristics. Of these patients, 291 (33.0%) suffered from SAS, while 590 (67.0%) had no SAS. Based on a Circular Von Mises distribution analysis, the non-SAS patients experienced a significant morning peak in the occurrence of ATAAD at 10:04 (r1 = 0.148, p < 0.01). In contrast, the SAS patients experienced a significantly different (non-SAS vs. SAS, U2 = 0.947, p < 0.001) nighttime peak at 23:48 (r2 = 0.489, p < 0.01). Moreover, both non-SAS (Z = 39.770, P < 0.001) and SAS (Z = 55.663, P < 0.001) patients showed a comparable peak during January (non-SAS vs. SAS, U2 = 0.173, p > 0.05). Furthermore, SAS patients experienced a peak on Fridays (χ2 = 36.419, p < 0.001), whereas there was no significant difference in the weekly distribution in non-SAS patients (χ2 = 11.315, p = 0.079). Conclusions: The analyses showed that both SAS and non-SAS patients showed distinct rhythmicity in ATAAD onset. These findings highlight the chronobiological triggers within different ATAAD subpopulations and may contribute to the prevention of this potentially fatal occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low positive predictive value (PPV) of early screening of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is the problems that need to be solved urgently. The combination of cell‐free DNA (cfDNA) methylation testing and Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) serological testing is the key to solve this problem. This paper reviews recent advances in early screening for NPC and cfDNA methylation, with future perspectives. Pubmed was searched for the literature related to early screening of NPC and cfDNA methylation in the past 5 years. The results of these studies were summarized. Despite these efforts, the PPV is still low (10%). Previous studies have shown that cfDNA methylation analysis has good specificity and accuracy across a variety of tumors. The combination of cfDNA methylation and EBV detection helps to improve the PPV for early screening of NPC. The combination of cfDNA methylation and EBV serological testing is key to addressing the low PPV of NPC early screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In current work, myrrh residue, a special type of natural biomass, was used as the feedstock for carbon dots (CDs) preparation for the first time. The effect of synthesis conditions including ethylenediamine addition, reaction temperature, and reaction time on the CDs fluorescence intensity was investigated to construct a proper synthesis system. Under the suitable condition, CDs with an average particle size of 6.35 ± 1.07 nm and excitation wavelength dependence were prepared, and the CDs yield and the CDs quantum yield were 3.78% and 10.63%, respectively. The CDs obtained were used for the detection of various metal ions, and Fe3+ could be detected most sensitively due to its significant quenching effect. For low Fe3+ concentrations (0.2–1 mM), it had a good linear relationship with F0/F (the relative fluorescence intensity) that a standard curve (y = 0.3553x + 0.926) was built with R2 of 0.997 and the limit of detection (LOD) of 24.62 μM. While for high Fe3+ concentrations (1–15 mM), it also had a good linear relationship with F0/F that a standard curve (y = 0.3232x + 0.7636) was built with R2 of 0.991 and LOD of 27.06 μM. The CDs was used for the real samples detection with the recoveries ranged from 92.71 to 103.84%. The fluorescence quenching mechanism of CDs by Fe3+ was learned and the static quenching was the possible mechanism. In addition, based on the antioxidant properties of myrrh itself, the myrrh residue derived CDs also had antioxidant activities and thus had potential for antioxidant application. On the whole, this work can provide an attractive technology for chemical conversion from low-cost myrrh residue to functional CDs which can be applied for Fe3+ detection and antioxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to clarify the success factor of snatch based on barbell trajectory and lifter's motion among elite male weightlifters. Motion analysis of snatch was conducted using digital videos recorded at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships. Data on successful and unsuccessful snatch lifts of 22 lifters, each using the same weights, were analysed; the unsuccessful lift was due to a frontward barbell drop. Results revealed that the difference in backward barbell displacement between the turnover to catch phase (DxL) and peak backward barbell velocity (pVx-) was significantly greater in successful snatch than in frontward barbell drops (DxL: p < 0.001, d > 5.0, pVx-: p < 0.01, d > 2.0). Backward displacement of the lifters' centre of mass (COM) between the transition to turnover phase in a successful snatch lift was significantly smaller than that in an unsuccessful lift (p < 0.05, d > 2.0). It is considered that there was excessive backward leaning during unsuccessful lifts. However, no significant difference in maximum barbell height (Dy1) was found. Based on these findings, DxL and pVx- are success factors for snatch, whereas Dy1 is not. It is suggested that avoiding excessive backward-leaning of the body in the turnover phase may vary the chances of successful snatch among elite male weightlifters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary fermented cottonseed meal (FCSM) substitution for fish meal on intestinal enzymatic activity, inflammatory and physical-barrier-related gene expression, and intestinal microflora of juvenile golden pompano. The 375 golden pompanos were divided into 15 groups of 25 fish each, with three replicates for each experimental group. The fish were fed five experimental diets (0 (FM), 12.5% (CSM12.5), 25% (CSM25), 50% (CSM50), and 100% (CSM100) substitution levels) for 8 weeks. The fish were reared and fed the experimental diets under a natural-day light cycle. Compared with the control group, the activities of AMY (amylase) enzymes in the CSM12.5 group and all other groups were elevated (p < 0.05). The CSM25 group exhibited a considerable up-regulation of IL-10 (Interleukin-10) expression relative to the FM group (p < 0.05). With an increase in dietary FM substitution with FCSM from 0 to 25%, the relative expressions of NF-κB (Nuclear factor kappa-B), IL-1β (Interleukin-1 beta), and IL-8 (Interleukin-8) were down-regulated. In this study, the relative expressions of ZO-1 (zonula occluden-1) and Occludin were up-regulated, and those of Claudin-3 and Claudin-15 significantly up-regulated, when the FCSM substitution ratio was 25%. The results of high-throughput sequencing of the intestinal microflora showed that ACE indices the lowest in the CSM25 group, which was significantly different from those in the CSM100 group (p < 0.05). The CSM50 group had the highest Shannon and Simpson indices and the highest community diversity. In addition, replacing a high percentage of fish meal with FCSM can negatively affect the intestinal flora of fish. In this study, the 25% substitution ratio improved nutrient absorption, reduced intestinal inflammation, improved intestinal physical barrier damage, did not affect intestinal microecology, and had no adverse effects on fish. However, substitution of a high proportion of FM with FCSM negatively affects the intestinal microflora and nutrient absorption capacity of fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the mechanism of action of tetrahydroxy stilbene glycosides(TSG) in ameliorating neuronal damage in Alzheimer's disease rats by regulating MKK7 and JNK kinases. Methods: A total of 24-month-old 42 SD rats were randomly selected for the experiment in 7 groups: normal group, sham-operated group, model group, positive drug group, low, medium and high dose TSG group at 0.033 g/kg, 0.1 g/kg, 0.3 g/kg. The Model Group and the TSG groups were established by stereotaxic Aβ25-35 solution. After 28 days, the model rats were selected by passive avoidance test. After screening, each dosage group of TSG and positive drug group was given intragastrically according to the corresponding dosage, and the experiment was carried out after 28 days. The pathological changes of hippocampal CA1 region were observed by tissue staining, and the amount of MKK7 and JNK proteins and the expression content of MKK7 and JNK mRNA by histochemical method of protein, and qRTPCR assay. Results: (1) He staining observation: Compared with the normal group and the sham-operated group, the number of nerve cells in the model group decreased and arranged irregularly, the cell membrane shrank, and the nucleus deformed and dissolved. The number of neurons in the positive drug group and TSG Group also increased significantly, the order is also relatively well. (2) From the results of the Tunel staining experiments:the positive apoptotic cells in the model group were higher than control group and sham-operated group, positive drug group and TSG drugs group was significantly smaller than that in the model group (P < 0.05). (3) Compared with the control group and the Virtual Operation Group, the MKK7 and JNK protein concentrations in the brain of the model group were increased(P<0.05) by data analysis of immunohistochemistry: Compared with the model group, the protein expression of positive drug and TSG each dose group were reduced (P<0.05). (4)The results of QRTPCR data showed that the levels of MKK7 and JNK mRNA in the brain tissue of the model group were increased compared with the normal group and sham-operated groups(P<0.05). Conclusion: Stilbene glycoside has a certain effect on neuronal injury and repair which may be related to the changes of mRNA transcription and protein expression of MKK7 and JNK kinases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is endemic in Southern China and Southeast Asia. Hyperthermia is widely used in combination with chemotherapy and radiotherapy to enhance therapeutic efficacy in NPC treatment, but the underlying anti-tumor mechanisms of hyperthermia remain unclear. Complement C3 has been reported to participate in the activation of immune system in the tumor microenvironment, leading to tumor growth inhibition. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect and mechanisms of hyperthermia and investigate the functional role of complement C3 in NPC hyperthermia therapy (HT). The serum levels of complement C3 before and after hyperthermia therapy in patients with NPC were analyzed. NPC cell lines SUNE1 and HONE1 were used for in vitro experiment to evaluate the function of complement C3 and HT on cell proliferation and apoptosis. SUNE1 xenograft mouse model was established and tumor-bearing mice were treated in water bath at a constant temperature of 43°C. Tumor samples were collected at different time points to verify the expression of complement C3 by immunohistochemical staining and western blot. The differential expressed genes after hyperthermia were analyzed by using RNA sequencing. We found that complement could enhance hyperthermia effect on suppressing proliferation and promoting apoptosis of tumor cells in NPC. Hyperthermia decreased the mRNA expression of complement C3 in tumor cells, but promoted the aggregation and activation circulating C3 in NPC tumor tissue. By using in vitro hyperthermia-treated NPC cell lines and SUNE1 xenograft tumor-bearing mice, we found that the expression of heat shock protein 5 (HSPA5) was significantly upregulated. Knockdown of HSPA5 abrogated the anti-tumor effect of hyperthermia. Moreover, we demonstrated that hyperthermia downregulated CD55 expression via HSPA5/NFκB (P65) signaling and activated complement cascade. Our findings suggest that therapeutic hyperthermia regulates complement C3 activation and suppresses tumor development via HSPA5/NFκB/CD55 pathway in NPC. Complement was involved in the anti-tumor effect of hyperthermia in vitro. Hyperthermia markedly increased the expression of heat shock protein 5 (HSPA5) and decreased the expression of CD55 which regulated the activation of complement C3 and complement cascade. Activation of HSPA5/NFκB (P65) signaling pathway resulted in a decrease in CD55 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death. Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a special microenvironment for lung cancer metastasis. Alternative splicing, which is regulated by splicing factors, affects the expression of most genes and influences carcinogenesis and metastasis. Methods: mRNA-seq data and alternative splicing events in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). A risk model was generated by Cox regression analyses and LASSO regression. Cell isolation and flow cytometry were used to identify B cells. Results: We systematically analyzed the splicing factors, alternative splicing events, clinical characteristics, and immunologic features of LUAD in the TCGA cohort. A risk signature based on 23 alternative splicing events was established and identified as an independent prognosis factor in LUAD. Among all patients, the risk signature showed a better prognostic value in metastatic patients. By single-sample gene set enrichment analysis, we found that among tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, B cells were most significantly correlated to the risk score. Furthermore, we investigated the classification and function of B cells in MPE, a metastatic microenvironment of LUAD, and found that regulatory B cells might participate in the regulation of the immune microenvironment of MPE through antigen presentation and promotion of regulatory T cell differentiation. Conclusions: We evaluated the prognostic value of alternative splicing events in LUAD and metastatic LUAD. We found that regulatory B cells had the function of antigen presentation, inhibited naïve T cells from differentiating into Th1 cells, and promoted Treg differentiation in LUAD patients with MPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise and efficient air quality prediction plays a vital role in safeguarding public health and informing policy-making. Fine particulate matter, specifically PM2.5 and PM10, serves as a crucial indicator for assessing and managing air pollution levels. In this paper, a daily pollution concentration prediction model combining successive variational mode decomposition (SVMD) and a bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) neural network is proposed. Firstly, SVMD is used as an unsupervised feature-learning method to divide data into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) and to extract frequency features and improve short-term trend prediction. Secondly, the BiLSTM network is introduced for supervised learning to capture small changes in the air pollutant sequence and perform prediction of the decomposed sequence. Furthermore, the Bayesian optimization (BO) algorithm is employed to identify the optimal key parameters of the BiLSTM model. Lastly, the predicted values are reconstructed to generate the final prediction results for the daily PM2.5 and PM10 datasets. The prediction performance of the proposed model is validated using the daily PM2.5 and PM10 datasets collected from the China Environmental Monitoring Center in Tianshui, Gansu, and Wuhan, Hubei. The results show that SVMD can smooth the original series more effectively than other decomposition methods, and that the BO-BiLSTM method is better than other LSTM-based models, thereby proving that the proposed model has excellent feasibility and accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sluggish kinetics and mutual interference of oxygen evolution and reduction reactions in the air electrode resulted in large charge/discharge overpotential and low energy efficiency of Zn‐air batteries. In this work, we designed a breathing air‐electrode configuration in the battery using P‐type Ca3Co4O9 and N‐type CaMnO3 as charge and discharge thermoelectrocatalysts, respectively. The Seebeck voltages generated from thermoelectric effect of Ca3Co4O9 and CaMnO3 synergistically compensated the charge and discharge overpotentials. The carrier migration and accumulation on the cold surface of Ca3Co4O9 and CaMnO3 optimized the electronic structure of metallic sites and thus enhanced their intrinsic catalytic activity. The oxygen evolution and reduction overpotentials were enhanced by 101 and 90 mV, respectively, at temperature gradient of 200 °C. The breathing Zn‐air battery displayed a remarkable energy efficiency of 68.1 %. This work provides an efficient avenue towards utilizing waste heat for improving the energy efficiency of Zn‐air battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sluggish kinetics and mutual interference of oxygen evolution and reduction reactions in the air electrode resulted in large charge/discharge overpotential and low energy efficiency of Zn‐air batteries. In this work, we designed a breathing air‐electrode configuration in the battery using P‐type Ca3Co4O9 and N‐type CaMnO3 as charge and discharge thermoelectrocatalysts, respectively. The Seebeck voltages generated from thermoelectric effect of Ca3Co4O9 and CaMnO3 synergistically compensated the charge and discharge overpotentials. The carrier migration and accumulation on the cold surface of Ca3Co4O9 and CaMnO3 optimized the electronic structure of metallic sites and thus enhanced their intrinsic catalytic activity. The oxygen evolution and reduction overpotentials were enhanced by 101 and 90 mV, respectively, at temperature gradient of 200 °C. The breathing Zn‐air battery displayed a remarkable energy efficiency of 68.1 %. This work provides an efficient avenue towards utilizing waste heat for improving the energy efficiency of Zn‐air battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depth cameras are becoming affordable and widely used to capture depth information in various real-world scenarios. However, depth-based object detectors rarely fully explore the geometry of objects, as well as simply concatenate textures and depths. By fully exploiting images and geometries of objects, we propose a VoteNet-based RGB-D object detection neural network (call ImGeo-VoteNet for short) to address the adverse situation of occluded and similar objects in indoor scenes. First, image votes are generated based on a set of candidate boxes from 2D detectors in RGB images to support the subsequent voting. Second, we transform the depths of any input scene to a point cloud representation for better using its geometry information. Third, we design three modules to capture multi-level contextual information at the point level, the object level and the global scene level, respectively, for alleviating data loss and distinguishing similar objects. Extensive experiments on the benchmark dataset show that ImGeo-VoteNet obtains a better accuracy of 3D object detection in complex indoor scenes than the state-of-the-art methods. For example, ImGeo-VoteNet achieves the improvement of +5.8 mAP over VoteNet. Code is available at: https://github.com/chenbaian-cs/ImGeo-VoteNet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Feminizing gender‐affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) can be utilized to help transfeminine transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals achieve the transformation of outward sex characteristics, thereby leading to improvements in psychological and social well‐being. In this narrative review, we aim to summarize current guidelines for feminizing GAHT management as well as the available literature describing the associated health risks pertaining to cardiovascular disease, thromboembolic disease, bone health, and cancer risks. Methods: Relevant literature from January 2019 through July 2022 pertaining to feminizing GAHT was identified using PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and MEDLINE. A narrative summary was performed with the inclusion of more recently published guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, Standards of Care Version 8. Results: Guidance regarding the prescribing of feminizing GAHT with estrogen, antiandrogen, and progesterone medications is summarized along with considerations of the cardiovascular, thromboembolic, bone health, and cancer risks associated with these therapies. Conclusions: Feminizing GAHT is a highly effective method for transfeminine TGD patients to achieve medically necessary changes in secondary sex characteristics. Knowledge of the health risks of feminizing GAHT is largely drawn from research in the cisgender population, with a growing body of literature in TGD‐specific patient populations. Feminizing GAHT appears to carry a low risk profile for most patients; however, further research describing the risks of hormone management around the time of gender‐affirming surgery and in the aging TGD population is needed to optimize GAHT in the context of the evolving health risks over a TGD patient's lifespan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To extract facial features with different receptive fields and improve the decision fusion performance of network ensemble, a symmetric multi-scale residual network (SMResNet) ensemble with a weighted evidence fusion (WEF) strategy for facial expression recognition (FER) was proposed. Firstly, aiming at the defect of connecting different filter groups of Res2Net only from one direction in a hierarchical residual-like style, a symmetric multi-scale residual (SMR) block, which can symmetrically extract the features from two directions, was improved. Secondly, to highlight the role of different facial regions, a network ensemble was constructed based on three networks of SMResNet to extract the decision-level semantic of the whole face, eyes, and mouth regions, respectively. Meanwhile, the decision-level semantics of three regions were regarded as different pieces of evidence for decision-level fusion based on the Dempster-Shafer (D-S) evidence theory. Finally, to fuse the different regional expression evidence of the network ensemble, which has ambiguity and uncertainty, a WEF strategy was introduced to overcome conflicts within evidence based on the support degree adjustment. The experimental results showed that the facial expression recognition rates achieved 88.73%, 88.46%, and 88.52% on FERPlus, RAF-DB, and CAER-S datasets, respectively. Compared with other state-of-the-art methods on three datasets, the proposed network ensemble, which not only focuses the decision-level semantics of key regions, but also addresses to the whole face for the absence of regional semantics under occlusion and posture variations, improved the performance of facial expression recognition in the wild. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is widely used for treating critically-ill patients in the emergency department in China. Anticoagulant therapy is needed to prevent clotting in the extracorporeal circulation during CRRT. Regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA) has been shown to potentially be safer and more effective and is now recommended as the preferred anticoagulant method for CRRT. However, there is still a lack of unified standards for RCA management in the world, and there are many problems in using this method in clinical practice. The Emergency Medical Doctor Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association (CMDA) organized a panel of domestic emergency medicine experts and international experts of CRRT to discuss RCA-related issues, including the advantages and disadvantages of RCA in CRRT anticoagulation, the principle of RCA, parameter settings for RCA, monitoring of RCA (mainly metabolic acid–base disorders), and special issues during RCA. Based on the latest available research evidence as well as the paneled experts' clinical experience, considering the generalizability, suitability, and potential resource utilization, while also balancing clinical advantages and disadvantages, a total of 16 guideline recommendations were formed from the experts' consensus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]